Milwaukee officials attend gun policy summit

Mayors, police chiefs and prosecutors from around the Upper Midwest - including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Ed Flynn - gathered in Minneapolis Thursday for a summit on gun policies.

Flynn said that while recent mass shootings require federal action, there is also a "slow-motion mass murder" happening in cities across America - and that daily violence can't be ignored by lawmakers.

WISN 12 News spoke to Barrett as he returned to Milwaukee Thursday night. He said plans for the summit were in place before the shootings in Oak Creek and Brookfield.

"This was something that the mayor of Minneapolis and I decided last year would be important," he said. "To get together with our police chiefs and our prosecutors to talk about how we could do a better job to reduce violence."

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says he and others will head to Washington next week to lobby for change to federal gun laws.

Vice President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he has reached a consensus on some proposals, including banning assault weapons, and will present those ideas next week.